


A purrrrfect double life

by AllKindsOfEverything



Category: Father Brown (2013)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Harry Potter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-18 23:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10627536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllKindsOfEverything/pseuds/AllKindsOfEverything
Summary: Being an Animagus stuck in the Muggle world is difficult. And besides, it doesn't count as using magic when they don't see you change back, right? - A series of firsts.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr Challenge - Father Brown "Ladies Week" - Day 6: Crossovers - (prompt: [not listed])

Being an Animagus in the Muggle world certainly had its perks.  
Nobody really minded having a cat around.  
Well, Mrs M did sometimes. Which made it even more fun. And then there were the quiet moments where she actually coaxed a little treat out of the woman. The small victories were the best.  
She liked being around her friends when they didn't know it was her.  
It had started with Sidney....

She hadn't even planned on doing it, but there was a certain longing that came with being an Animagus.  
Rules or not, you couldn't make any of her kind refrain from changing into their animal form after a certain amount of time. That time had come after being stuck in Montague Manor for more than a month with no way of escaping to the wizarding world, since the chimney sweep had been a little too thorough on the poor fireplace.  
She had become restless, trying to stop herself from changing, but ultimately giving up when the urge to run across that perfectly manicured lawn and hunt something small and furry had finally won.

When she had returned home from an exhilarating night stalking prey and climbing things, defying gravity while balancing on the thinnest branch she knew could support her weight, she had wandered into the garage to find him lying under the car, tinkering.  
She had watched him from a safe spot on a couple of boxes stacked in the corner of the room, surprised when he began singing to himself.  
He had a rather lovely singing voice. Who would have guessed?  
And then she had made the mistake of closing her eyes.

Felicia woke to fingertips scratching the top of her head and made a surprised noise, sounding like a purr with a question mark attached to it. Turning her head, she met Sidney's smiling eyes.

"Hey kitty?"

 _'Oh no.'_  She stared at him as he reached towards her again. _'Why did I fall asleep? This is_ not _happening.'_ Felicia weighed her option. She could scratch him and run. But that would be unkind. Poor Sid. She could hiss at him. That would be mean but at least she wouldn't hurt him physically. She watched his hand come closer and panicked. _'Quick, Felicia, think!'_ She could... the thought eluded her as Sidney scratched her behind the ears. She could... oh, this was rather nice. Closing her eyes, she leaned into his touch. When had she begun purring? How indecorous. She should stop. _'...in a moment,'_ she thought when his fingers started to massage the back of her neck.  
This was so wrong. If he'd know it were her, he would feel appalled. But he didn't. And how would he find out? She could keep a secret with the best of them. Yes, she definitely could.

...and so it had begun.

~*~*~*~

Father Brown was sitting at his desk, deep in thought, writing his homily when she snuck in through the open window for the first time. She stalked towards his well polishes shoes. There was crumpled paper scattered around the floor and the urge to play with it got harder to suppress by the minute. Tilting her head when she spotted something lying under the couch at the back of the room, she crouched down to get a better look.  
Having retrieved the button from its hiding place, she jumped up on the desk and sat down next to the father's elbow with it between her teeth.

"Oh, hello." He smiled when he finally came out of his musings and saw her.

Felicia let the button fall on the desk and tilted her head, staring back at him. If she had been in human form, she would have made a quip about his cassock getting too tight from eating all those strawberry scones that had gone missing from Mrs M's plate lately.

Picking up the gift the cat had brought him, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Where did you find that?"

She was tempted to tell him, but instead decided to yawn impressively and stretch. Her work here was done. Maybe she could surprise Mrs M in the kitchen now.  
Her plan was cut short when the Father reached over and ran his hand from the top of her head down to the end of her back. Just when she thought she wouldn't mind if he'd do that again he did and she couldn't stop herself from purring.  
Slowly stepping forward, she bumped her head against his chin, smiling to herself when he chuckled. It was so much easier to show physical affection when you were a cat.  
A pang of sadness tightened her chest when she realised that in all the years she had known him, she had never even hugged the Father. She wouldn't dare.  
But right now, he was scratching her neck with such affection, she almost felt sorry he didn't know it was her.

She made a habit of regularly checking in on Father Brown after that. He seemed to enjoy the company and even put down a pillow in the corner of his desk the sun hit all morning for her to roll up on and nap while he was working.  
Sometimes being a cat was much preferable to being a human.

~*~*~*~

Startling Mrs McCarthy hadn't been her brightest idea, no matter how much she had enjoyed the shocked expression on her face, Felicia realised when her friend began chasing her around the kitchen with a broom.  
At least she would get exercise this morning, she mused as she side-stepped around the table and used the acceleration gained to jump from the counter to the top of the cupboard.

"Come here, you fleabag." Mrs M's angry voice was accompanied by the bristles of the broom poking around her sanctuary, trying to get her down.

Felicia felt utterly offended. _'Fleabag?! I have you know that my fur is perfectly groomed and delightful!'_ It came out as a long, angry hiss, of course. She whacked at the bristles, retreating towards the wall.  
After a moment she bristles disappeared and she heard an angry huff coming from the direction. Felicia decided to bide her time and started licking her paw. She must have stepped into something sweet and sticky. Part of her knew she should be disgusted, but she had to admit it tasted rather nice - even if it was only to herself.  
Completely preoccupied with her grooming efforts, she paid no heed to the sound of a chair being pulled across the floor.

Suddenly, Mrs McCarthy's head poked over the cupboard's edge, a triumphant grin on her face as she reached out with both hands and grabbed Felicia under the forelegs, pulling her down from her hiding place.

She was too shocked to react. Her first instinct was to lash out but instead she just stared into Mrs M's eyes, her front legs stretched out straight in front of her, her lithe body limply hanging down as the Irish woman stepped off the chair and stood with her in the middle of the kitchen.  
They stared at each other for a long moment. It dawned on Felicia that her friend was probably surprised that she wasn't bleeding yet, becoming aware that she was being held by gloved hands.

Unsure of what to do next, Mrs M opened her mouth and closed it without making a noise.

Deciding to try and charm her way out of this, Felicia made a noise in between a purr and a meow and slow-blinked at her friend. In return, Mrs McCarthy slowly turned and wordlessly sat her down on the kitchen table.  
Starting to purr, she sat perfectly still while the woman in front of her hesitantly pulled off one of her gardening gloves and tentatively reached towards her.

The well-known hand stopped right in front of her nose and she sniffed at it gingerly. If it had been physically possible, Felicia would have giggled; of course she smelt of dough.  
Gently touching her nose to the back of Mrs McCarthy's fingers, she slowly lowered her head and brushed it under the unmoving digits, purring harder. _'Relax, Mrs M. I won't scratch, I promise.'_  
The hand slowly turned and cupped her cheek, her whiskers being brushed back carefully with a thumb. She nuzzled into the touch and closed her eyes.

"Well," Bridget breathed and stepped back, a smile ghosting across her face as the cat looked up at her with its impressive eyes. She had the odd urge to talk to the furry creature. Raising her index finger in sync with her brow, she said, "If you promise not to jump on the kitchen counter you can stay for a while."  
Walking over to where the chair was still standing in front of the cupboard, she put it back in its proper place, surprised when she found the cat watching her, looking rather regal sitting there with its tail neatly curled around it. Sighing, she rolled her eyes, "Don't look at me like that. You won't get any cream out of me." When the cat tilted its head she could have sworn it was pouting.  
Mrs M huffed in amusement and shook her head, quickly washing her hands before returning to making dinner.

Felicia watched her from her place on the kitchen table, internally smiling to herself. _'Wait and see, Mrs M. Wait and see.'_

~*~*~*~

She had always liked Inspector Sullivan.  
He was handsome, kind, witty... and had a high standard of morals. A little too high for her liking, but it was a good thing in a police inspector, she supposed.  
He was also rather unlike Inspector Valentine.  
Valentine had had a saucer in the bottom drawer of his desk just for her. Every time she had come in to sniff around his office he had been kind to her. Even shared his sandwiches.  
She had liked that.

Inspector Sullivan was a blank page and hadn't been around for long enough for her to figure him out yet.  
It was her first visit to his office and she hadn't even wanted to come.  
But she wanted to help Father Brown and the one way she could that was unique to her was by sneaking into the Inspector's office and gathering information.

The good thing about being a cat was that you were small, and cute, and most people didn't care enough to stop you from going wherever you were heading.  
To her surprise the conveniently broken glass pane of the Inspector's office window had been boarded up.  
_'Guess I'll have to take the long route then,'_ she huffed and went on her way, slipping in through the front door just to get picked up by Sergeant Goodfellow.

"Hello, kitty cat?" He expertly turned her and held her in his arms in a way that was both comfortable and secure. "Where do you think you're going?" Sitting her down on the counter, he began petting her.  
She would have very much liked to stay there and let him scratch her back, but she was on a mission. Making a mental note to come back for more back scratches she jumped off the counter, feeling oddly sorry for leaving the Sergeant when he had been so sweet.

Felicia made a point of staying close to the wall as she slinked into the Inspector's office.  
He was on the phone, leaned back in his swivel chair with his back to the door.  
Making a bold move, she jumped up on his desk and looked around. If she had been in human form she would have emitted a triumphant 'Hah!' when she spotted the open case file and quickly skimmed over the open page.

"No, we haven't." Sullivan said into the receiver and turned towards the desk, freezing in surprise when he came face to face with a cat.

 _'Uh, oh.'_ Her eyes widened in shock and they stared at each other for a long moment. Remembering her current form, she tried a questioning meow, hoping for the best.

Not breaking eye contact, he reached out and pulled at the file she was currently standing on.

Stepping back to let him retrieve it, she kept watching him closely.

"Yes, I have it right here." Sullivan looked down at the coroner's report to check something and then back to where the cat was still looking at him.

She was somewhat confused by the slow smile that took over his face. Tilting her head, she watched him slow-blink at her and wondered if he knew what he was doing.  
Felicia slow-blinked back, purposefully relaxing her shoulders.

Putting the case file down, he leaned back further in his chair and rolled closer to the desk. His eyes still linked with the cat's he smiled at her and gently patted his chest while he kept listening to the party at the other end of the line.

Was that an invitation? Well, if he offered, how could she resist?  
_'After all, I need to keep my cover up,'_ she argued with herself, cautiously placed one front paw on his leg and waited. When he didn't move she placed the other next to it. He reached out and scratched her head.  
_'Yes, definitely an invitation,'_ she thought and climbed up to lie down in the middle of his - remarkably mesomorphic - chest. His hand found the sweet spot between her shoulderblades and she purred.

"No, we had to let the locksmith go, he had an alibi." Sullivan watched the cat close her eyes, absentmindedly treading his chest.

 _'Ah, almost forgot about that,'_ she rested her chin on her paws and pricked up her ears.  
She could get used to this kind of information gathering.

~*~*~*~

Sometimes you just needed some time to yourself.  
And when too many people wanted things from Lady Montague, and it all got too much, Felicia just morphed into her cat body and let them search for her to no avail.  
So she had, after a tiring day of having to laugh at the distinctly unfunny jokes of her host -a business acquaintance of her absent husband- while she was trapped at his house.

Curled up on the sand stone banister of the impressive manor's terrace, she soaked up the warmth of the stones as dusk settled around her, glad she finally got some peace.  
Her ear turned towards a rustling noise to her side on its own account, but she felt too lazy to even lift her head.  
Soft footsteps were approaching from the same direction a moment later and then someone scratched the top of her head.  
Just when she lifted it to see who it was, the black clad figure slipped past her. How odd.

She stretched leisurely, yawning, and sat up to investigate. The gentleman with the soft hands was currently manipulating the french windows rather expertly. Felicia tilted her head _'No, not gentleman; burglar.'_  
If it had been the home of someone she actually liked, she would have probably intervened, but she remembered all too clearly the meaty hand of her host squeezing her buttocks when she had danced with him at the party she had had to attend on behalf of her husband.  
In this case, she would just follow and observe. It would be great research for a new book.  
She could see it now; a woman of mystery getting caught by a handsome prince when she tries to steal a jewel that holds a clue to her father's murder.

Following him into the house, she was impressed at how silently he operated.  
As a cat one could see very well in the dark, but he wasn't a cat. How he didn't run into the ill placed furniture on his way to what she assumed was the study was a mystery to her.

He opened the door to the study and felt something brush against his leg. Looking down, he spotted the cat he had met on his way in and smirked. She had been as quiet as he.

 _'Oh, hello.'_ Felicia was surprised to meet the familiar face of Hercule Flambeau. She should have known; he smelt nice.

Opening the door to the study, he made eye contact with the feline and stepped aside, motioning his head towards the doorway.

 _'How kind of you, monsieur,'_ she thought mockingly as she strutted past him. It amused her that he was so well mannered towards a cat. Then again, it was rather clever of him not to try and shoo her away; she might have gotten angry and given him away.  
The large windows let the full moon illuminate this room rather nicely.  
Silently jumping up on the desk, she sat there, her tail neatly curled around her, and watched him close the door without making a noise.

He purposefully walked up to a painting and pulled it aside, revealing a wall safe.  
_'Clever_ and _handsome. In another life I might have liked you,'_ she tilted her head and let her gaze travel down his back, _'Who am I kidding? I have a thing for you in this life as well. Not that I'd act on it?'_ Human Felicia would have smirked as she thought, _'Such a nice butt too.'_

Flambeau had unlocked the safe without breaking a sweat. If this job hadn't been so important he would have thought it boring. Pulling the slim folder he had come for towards him, he smiled triumphantly, turned and walked over to the desk.

She watched him as he sat down and began leafing through the files he had retrieved, obviously searching for something in particular.  
Felicia was surprised that he hadn't come for some ancient jewel this time but was going through papers. The binder looked ordinary to her, no seal reading 'top secret' or 'classified' anywhere to be seen.  
She repositioned herself to get a closer look at it, trying to read along with the thief. Something about monastery? Of course. That made more sense.  
Just when she was beginning to make heads and tails of it, he tore out the page he was currently reading as well as a couple of others and folded them neatly before tucking them into his pocket.

He looked at the cat and smiled. If he hadn't known better he could have sworn her gaze was questioning. Gently ruffling the soft fur on her throat, he whispered, "Curious little thing, aren't you?"

She couldn't help but notice that his voice turned even more velvety when he spoke lowly. Leaning into his touch, she purred. Yes, in another life she would have definitely... she stopped herself from thinking further and shook her head. The reaction seemed to amuse him, because he chuckled and picked her up.

"C'Mon, ma mignonne." Flambeau placed the cat against his chest, then closed the folder and picked it up with his other hand while the furry creature repositioned itself, its front paws coming to rest on his shoulder. He put the papers back into the safe and closed it quietly, leaving the room just the way he had found it, the cat still in his arm.

His soft fingers were running through the fur on her back and she relaxed against him, letting him carry her out of the house.  
She uttered an annoyed sound when he gently put her down in the same spot on the sand stone banister where they had first met and looked at him in the moonlight.

He had wanted to make a dash as soon as he had set her down, but when he looked into her eyes, he couldn't. Scratching her behind the ears, he smiled, "I'm sorry, ma petite, but this is where we part company, I'm afraid."

Felicia knew it was for the best, but a growing part of her didn't want him to leave at all. She closed her eyes when he began scratching the sides of her jaw with both hands, surprised when she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head.  
She watched him walk away and realised she could no longer deny it to herself; she definitely had a thing for Hercule Flambeau. And she hated herself for it.

~*~*~*~

Her parents had always been strict about using magic when amongst muggles. It was a big no-no and if they had known that she casually used her cat form whenever she pleased now they would have had her guts for garters.  
So when her niece came to live with her because of two very different reasons (one to tell the muggles and the other -much more delicate one- only a select few wizards knew about) she tried her best to stop the habit.  
Bunty would have been in deep trouble with the Ministry if her father hadn't pulled a hell of a lot of strings and now Felicia was supposed to be a role model.  
Her. A role model. If it hadn't been so annoying it would have been funny.

It had gone well for a couple of weeks. She had ceased her little visits, pondering whether her friends missed _her_ as much as she missed _it_.  
But after an infuriating phone call from her husband, the need for peace, quiet and a good belly rub without questions asked had gotten the better of her and she had escaped into the woods, changing when she had made certain no one was around, and just running until all the pent up energy had left her system.

Clawing at a tree trunk, she stretched, feeling much better already. Gosh, how she had missed this. Hearing footsteps approach she quickly made her way up the tree and watched two familiar figures stumble into the clearing, unsure of what to do.

Susie giggled and slapped Bunty's hand away from where it tickled her side. "Stop it." Turning to face her girlfriend, she walked backwards, trying to fend off those wicked fingers.

"I don't want to," Bunty grinned and continued her playful attacks until Susie's back was pressed against a tree, using her body to pin the blonde against it. She let her girlfriend catch her by the wrists, enjoying the feel of the cool slim fingers. Her eyes sparkled mischievously when she leaned closer, feeling Susie let go of her wrists to lace their fingers together.  
Her lips curled up and she whispered, "gotcha," kissing her thoroughly.

From her perch on the branch, Felicia watched with a mixture of joy and embarrassment. She was glad to find out these two were happy, but it was clear to her that she wasn't supposed to witness this scene at all.  
Looking around to determine her next step, she knew she was in quite a quandary.  
Beneath her, she could hear Susie gasp lightly and was sorry she couldn't cover her ears.  
_'_ Definitely _not supposed to be here,'_ she thought, slowly walked down the branch she had been sitting on and looked down. _'Probably too high to jump.'_  
She scanned the area, trying to find a way down that wouldn't end in bruises. Cats might always land on their feet, but the impact could cause a wide variety of injuries. She had learned that the hard way when she had been much younger.  
Felicia was just remembering her first tries at being a cat when something made her lose her foothold and she slipped.

The two young women heard a rustling coming from above and sprung apart, surprised when they saw a cat fall out of the tree, landing only a few feet away from them.  
Bunty furrowed her brow. She knew those markings. No... it couldn't be.

Felicia felt shock, then pain, then panic.  
Blindly storming straight ahead and away from her landing spot, she felt her knee throb every time her paw touched the ground. Her only thought was 'home'.

Later that day she was resting on the terrace, a book in her hands and a tea tray next to her deck chair. She couldn't quite concentrate on reading though.  
What if Bunty had gotten a good look at her? What if she asked why she was limping? She couldn't just _not walk_ around the girl? Heaven only knew how long it would take for her knee to stop hurting.  
At least it wasn't broken or even sprained. Didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.  
Right. That was it. No more adventures. No more running around the woods. She would just take a vacation in the wizarding world next time she felt the urge to transform. Yes. Good.  
Felicia went back to reading her book.

"Hello, auntie," Bunty grinned like the proverbial Cheshire Cat and sat down next to Felicia's hip. "Had a nice day?"

The second their eyes met, she knew the girl had put two and two together. "Splendid," she returned the smile.

"I got you something." Reaching into her pocket, Bunty pulled out a little screw-cap tin and gave it to her aunt. "Falling from that height must have hurt."

Felicia waited a moment for a snide remark that didn't come. Looking at the tin and then back at her niece, she didn't quite know what to say, finally settling on a simple "Thank you."

"So," Bunty tilted her head. "How long had you been in that tree?"

Huffing, her lips curled up and she met the young woman's eyes. "I think it's safe to say we're both glad I fell when I did."

Her niece giggled. "Well, I certainly am."

"You know, you could just bring Susie to the house, right?"

"Yeah," Bunty looked down for a second before shrugging and meeting Felicia's eyes again. "She's a little shy."

Nodding in understanding, she opened the tin she still had in her hand and gingerly sniffed at the lotion it contained, pulling back immediately "Eww!"

Bunty threw her head back laughing. "It's not supposed to smell good, it's supposed to help."

"I still couldn't come within a ten foot radius of any living creature with _that_ on my skin. They'd run for the hills." Felicia pulled a face while screwing the lid back on tightly.

"Oh, come on. It's not _that_ bad." Her niece nudged her shoulder. "Besides, it only takes a couple of hours to heal you up completely. Then you can wash it off."

"Fine. I'll give it a try." Felicia smiled at her. When the girl kept looking at her expectantly she added, "In the bath, before going to sleep."

Bunty shrugged. "Fair enough." Leaning back on her hand, she studied her aunt's face. "You know, Susie told me about a cat that comes and visits her."

Trying not to blush, Felicia raised her eyebrows, giving her an innocent look. "Did she now."

"Yeah," Bunty grinned. "As a matter of fact, I've heard quite a few people mention a very pretty and utterly charming cat and how they wonder where it has gone off to. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Felicia felt her heart leap with joy at the knowledge that people did indeed miss her. "You know we're not supposed to use magic here."

Pursing her lips, Bunty's eyes sparkled. "I won't tell if you won't?"

It was terribly tempting to agree with the girl. "We can't use magic around them."

"You changed where nobody could see you. So it doesn't count, right?"

Felicia gave in. "That's what I've been telling myself."

"I knew there was a reason you're my favourite aunt," Bunty beamed.

"But that doesn't mean you can go around jinxing things."

She batted her eyelashes innocently, "Wouldn't even dream about it."

Felicia squinted at her and dealt the death blow, "That includes charm spells, you know?"

The girl's face fell. "But," she stopped and pouted.

"I mean it, Bunty." Felicia pressed.

Sighing theatrically, Bunty rolled her eyes, "Fine." Crossing her arms over her chest, she huffed, "I like you better as a cat, you know? At least I can bribe you with belly rubs."

"That only works for small incidents."

Bunty tilted her head. "How small?"

Nudging the girl's side, Felicia laughed, "Smaller than bewitching a police officer to cuff himself to a lamp post so you can take his car for a joyride through a crowded town in broad daylight and then flying over the marketplace with it. _Much_ smaller."

"That was one time. And I had to make the car fly because otherwise I would have crashed it right into the stalls. It was to safe people."

"It took the Ministry almost two weeks to rectify things." Felicia studied Bunty's profile when the girl turned her face away. There was defiance in the line of her jaw, but also shame in her posture. "You do agree that visiting people in your Animagus form without them knowing it's you is on the other end of the spectrum, don't you?"

"Yes." Bunty looked at her hands folded in her lap and then back at her aunt. She was glad that she could glimpse no blame in her eyes. Just compassion. "I promise I will abide by your rules."

Felicia smiled gratefully and leaned forward. "And if you get me a flea collar for my birthday I'll shed all over your clothes."

Her niece challenged her, "Fine. A scratch post then."

As they sat there laughing, Felicia knew they were going to be all right.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what kind of cat you pictured her as!  
> I am still trying to find the right one, but so far I think she might be an Abyssinian (or a Bengal. They're mighty pretty too)? What do you think?


End file.
